LA VERNE, Calif. - The Cal Lutheran women's water polo team wrapped up the 2017 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championships in the third place game, finishing exactly where it started in fourth after going 1-2 over the weekend. The fourth-seeded Regals fell to third-seeded and host La Verne, 9-7, today to close out the 2017 season.
La Verne scored first and Logan Young netted the equalizing goal from the corner of the pool, but the Leos took a slim 2-1 lead after the opening eight minutes. By the end of the second stanza LV had doubled up CLU, 6-3, with Kristi McGee scoring twice including one with one second to play.
After the break, in a deficit, Cal Lutheran was unable to make significant enough adjustments as La Verne controlled the remainder of the contest despite a late surge. The Leos netted two in the third and the lone goal of the period for CLU came from Young on a recovered rebound. Nikki Roed found the back of the net with 3:48 to play in the fourth and again at the 1:16 mark on an assist from Young. Mardell Ramirez, who won the second quarter sprint,scored the final goal of the season on a lob shot with 18 seconds to play.
Both teams struggled on power plays with Cal Lutheran going 0-for-9 and La Verne converting one of seven. The Leopards out-shot the Regals 30-24 and drew a pair more exclusions, 10, than the Violet and Gold did with eight. Sam Wulfestieg earned three drawn ejections while Victoria Rose Meek tallied two.
Defensively, Bailey Meyer had 13 saves, for a .591 saves percentage on the day, and a team-best two steals. The five additional steals came from as many players.
In her final collegiate contest, Young had the two assists of the day, while adding two goals and the only field block for the team. Classmate KC Brendel totaled a drawn ejection and a steal in her college finale.
Maddie Campbell, Christin Hirn and Megan Seeman also dove in for the Regals today.
The championships game in 2017 between Whittier and Pomona-Pitzer was in progress at the time of release.
Cal Lutheran (15-13, 6-5 SCIAC) produced its best overall record since 2012 with 15 wins and the 2017 showing was the most successful in the tenure of the two seniors, Brendel and Young, who each donned the Violet and Gold for the final time today.
Box Score: LV 9, CLU 7
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